Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The regular 23rd meeting of the Council of Heads of Financial Intelligence Units of the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States was held on 7 June in Almaty.

The meeting was attended by delegations from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, the Secretariat of the Council and the Executive Committee of the CIS. Representatives of the International Training and Methodological Center for Financial Monitoring, the Bureau for Coordinating the Fight against Organized Crime and Other Dangerous Types of Crime in the Commonwealth Countries, the Coordinating Council of Prosecutors General, the Anti-Terrorist Center, the Coordination Service of the Council of Commanders of the Border Troops, the Council of Heads of Migration Authorities, the Secretariat of the Interstate Council on Combating Corruption, the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism, the secretariats of the CSTO and the EEC, the delegations of the financial intelligence units of the Republic of India and the Islamic Republic of Iran were also invited to the meeting..

Dauren Abaev, Deputy Secretary General of the CIS, sent greetings to the participants of the meeting. The greeting notes that the Council promptly responds to emerging challenges and threats and makes a worthy contribution to ensuring security in the Commonwealth space. With his direct participation, the regulatory and legal framework for cooperation is being improved, targeted interstate programs are being effectively implemented, and forms of partnership adequate to modern requirements are being introduced into practice.

“The well-coordinated and purposeful work of the Council of Heads of Financial Intelligence Units of the CIS Member States is one of the most important areas of interaction in the field of ensuring security and law and order in the Commonwealth countries,” Dauren Abaev emphasized. He thanked the members of the Council for the organization and conduct of two significant operations "Barrier" and "Orion", within which international terrorist centers are successfully identified, as well as the structures that assist them.

During the meeting, representatives of the CIS countries exchanged views on the specifics of the emerging operational situation in the states in the field of combating the legalization (laundering) of criminal proceeds and the financing of terrorism, the measures taken to stabilize it, including innovations in legislation. The results of the implementation of the decisions taken earlier by the Council, including those regarding the implementation of a number of sectoral cooperation programs, were summed up.

One of the issues on the agenda of the event was devoted to the creation of the International Center for Assessing the Risks of Legalization (Laundering) of Proceeds from Crime and the Financing of Terrorism. Igor Malashevich, Deputy Head of the Secretariat of the Council, Advisor to the Department for Security Cooperation and Countering New Challenges and Threats of the CIS Executive Committee, reported on the progress of work in this area at the meeting. He informed the audience that the draft agreement on the establishment of the center was considered at four meetings of expert groups at the headquarters of the Commonwealth. Now the document has been sent to the CIS countries for the completion of intrastate coordination. It is planned to be included in the draft agenda of the meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State, which will be held in October in Bishkek.

The participants of the meeting took note of the progress report on the creation of the Synergy Information Exchange System between the financial intelligence units of the CIS countries, having decided to amend the Regulations on the System, and generally approved the draft of the new version of the Information Interaction Regulation using Synergy.

In addition, the members of the Council discussed issues related to the inventory of the legal framework for cooperation, the activities of working groups established under the Council, and a number of others.

The next meeting of the Council of Heads of Financial Intelligence Units of the Commonwealth of Independent States will be held in October this year in Russia during the final stage of the III International Olympiad on Financial Security.